Whistling Past the Graveyard
Congress Races to Pass Budget Cuts that Americans Oppose by 2-1 Margin
Parkersburg, Iowa is the biggest town in Butler County. It’s home to just under 2,000 people - people who could lose their rural hospital if Washington budget cuts are signed into law.
Senator Joni Ernst put Parkersburg in the national spotlight—for all the wrong reasons.
Pressed on the House’s $800 billion Medicaid cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Ernst tried to deflect. A constituent told her people would die.
“We are all going to die,” Ernst replied.
The crowd gasped. Then they booed. And somehow, when Senator Ernst apologized it got worse.
She followed up with a tone-deaf video from a graveyard, joking that at least no one asked about the tooth fairy.
Getting healthcare in rural communities like Parkersburg is not a joke, especially when you’re a 30 minute drive from the nearest hospital.
Waverly Health Center has been serving rural Iowans for over 120 years. It’s a designated Critical Access Hospital, one of hundreds across the country that keep rural America alive.
Waverly has 21 hospital beds. It has a birthing center. It has an emergency room. Last year, nearly 40% of Waverly patients were on Medicare or Medicaid.
Half of all rural hospitals in America are losing money. Not because they’re inefficient—because they serve fewer patients, more seniors, and too many people who can’t afford to pay.
It’s why 40 states expanded Medicaid to get more people covered by insurance. Red States. Blue States. Iowa expanded Medicaid a decade ago under a Republican governor.
Expansion means that hospitals like Waverly can charge a 6% “provider tax.” That may not sound like a lot, but it is critical for rural hospitals.
This week, Senator Ernst and her colleagues unveiled their version of One Big Beautiful bill - a proposal that would make even deeper cuts than the ones booed in Parkersburg.
The Senate bill cuts the provider tax that funds rural hospitals nearly in half - from 6% to 3.5%.
Senator Josh Hawley - who is concerned about rural hospitals in Missouri - called the Medicaid cuts “morally wrong and politically suicidal.” Now the Senate is going further.
Trump Budget Director Russ Vought claimed, “no one will lose coverage.”
But the Congressional Budget Office says otherwise: 7.6 million people will be kicked off Medicaid if this bill passes. Other estimates suggest it could be as high as 10.9 million.
These cuts are deeply unpopular and Americans oppose them by 2-1 margin.
So the Trump team is scrambling—not to stop the cuts, but to spin them.
They say it’s not about your family. It’s about waste, fraud, and abuse. It’s about freeloaders. Undocumented people. Lazy people. People who “refuse to work.”
Tell that to Melissa Sabin, a Kansas mom whose son Logan was born with a rare genetic disease. Medicaid paid $1 million for Logan’s time in Intensive Care.
“We would not function as a family without Medicaid,” Melissa said. Logan requires daily therapy including in-home nurse care.
Another Kansas mother, Laura Robeson, attended President Trump’s State of the Union Address in 2019. Her son Danny who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and limited vision. He sees a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist.
“I'm not sure why it is in this country we are asking mothers to justify why it is important to keep their children alive,” Laura told Kansas Senator Jerry Moran’s staff - a critical vote on the upcoming Big Beautiful Bill.
Medicaid isn’t a handout. It’s a lifeline that insures working Americans, middle class parents, and children with disabilities.
Death may be inevitable.
But Washington politicians shouldn’t be the one deciding who goes first.